I’ve been setting my alarm clock for 20+years to wake up Sunday mornings at 4:30.

I get up, and get ready for services; it’s what I do.

It started in 1986 when we pioneered a church and we were meeting in a theater. I was the primary driver to pick up and deliver our sound equipment. I then had to open a shipping container filled with room dividers, temporary lighting, children’s classroom chairs, signage, etc. I essentially managed the transformation of a dark theater to a bright house of worship. Those were laborious years; week after week, making preparations for a 9:am service. It’s been decades since I’ve had to set up for church gatherings from scratch, and I still set my alarm clock for 4:30 Sunday mornings.

I simply use the time now to write out my sermons, create Power Point presentations and overall prepare emotionally, mentally and spiritually for our celebration services.

Sometimes, I don’t know if this ever happens to you, I often wake up right before the alarm goes off. The clock is set for 4:30 and I wake up at 4:27 or 4:29. I guess my “internal clock” is anticipating the alarm going off.

When my sabbatical started, I realized I would not be getting up at 4:30 because there was nothing to “prepare” for. I didn’t have to share from the pulpit, I wasn’t responsible for any details, and I didn’t have anything to do but attend a church gathering. It was an odd feeling to not set my alarm these last two weeks. Unfortunately both weeks I woke up… wide-awake, at 4:28am without an alarm clock.

Don't ever underestimate the power of patterns in your life.

As S. M. Hutchens writes in Touchstone magazine, readers in Melville's day did not have to be told that this man was a pagan; his tattoos made it obvious. Readers understood that tattooing one's body was not a Christian practice.

Especially was this true among Calvinist-leaning Christians of New England, who stressed the continuing applicability of Old Testament law, which, in Leviticus, forbade tattooing marks upon one's body.

But today, 160 years later, even some conservative Christian authorities don't think the ban on tattoos applies. This law, they declare, has been superseded by the coming of Christ. They consider tattoos an area of Christian freedom. Well, maybe they're right—I'm not a legalist.

But as tattoos proliferate in the Christian church, we ought to begin to think a little more seriously about them.

First, let's remember that God forbade the Israelites from tattooing their bodies because this was a practice among the pagans. God wanted His people to be set apart, and not mimic the customs and behaviors of the gentiles. And the New Testament tells us to treat our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. They are not raw material on which we simply carve graffiti.

Second, tattoos today point to the principal things in which people locate their identity—membership in the Navy, for example, or maybe a gang or a tribe. Even young women who mark their bodies with flowers or butterflies are aspiring to a certain identity. Hutchens writes, "These things, however, are in fact not principal things and through which we are not meant to mark our identity."

Christians need to ask themselves as well an important question—that is, what are (or should be) the marks of a Christian?

According to the New Testament, the marks of believers are faithfulness, patience, kindness, fortitude, and love. Hutchens writes these marks alter, not the skin, but the countenance of believers—so much so, he says, "that the faces of the saints can be distinguished by those who look upon them."

In other words, the marks of the Christian ought to be spiritual—etched into our souls—not etched onto our bodies.

Some believers argue that there's nothing wrong with a Christian-themed tattoo, like the cross. And Christians who get them do so out of love of Christ. But believers ought to ask themselves which sort of mark God would prefer. Tattoos last a lifetime—unless they are painfully removed. But the spiritual marks of a Christian last through all eternity.

In the end, Hutchens writes, many Christians reject tattoos, not because the Old Testament prohibits them. Instead, an "understanding of the higher and the lower, the superior and the inferior...[keeps] Christians from emulating what remains for that reason a pagan practice."

And this is what we are going to remind our friends and our kids if they're thinking about getting a tattoo or, even worse, a body piercing—God would prefer us to carry the true and visible marks of a Christian: faith, hope, and love.

Chuck Colson

(well said, thanks for getting me thinking Chuck!!)

Barabbas is a known terrorist. The guy’s a violent extremist and everybody knows it! The army’s been hunting him down in the back caves of the desert for the last many years. He has eluded them, until now. No more terror in the streets, or so we thought.

The crowd turned on the Teacher. I couldn’t have called it. Just last week they were shouting His praises, like King David himself had somehow reincarnated and returned triumphantly after the victory over Goliath. But the Hosanna’s would be short-lived indeed.

It was just like the toss of a coin… HEADS! Barabbas goes free! If only it was a simple coin. No, it was in fact the same crowd who shouted His praise, just days before, that demanded His execution. And the official actually listened to them; what is he thinking?! He’s here to keep the peace and he yields to the mob! Really!? It’s unbelievable… they’re gonna put the Teacher to death over some trumped up accusations by a few jealous higher-ups from the temple.

Friday was a total blur. We watched, at a distance, the melee of activity. First it was the “death march” through the streets. The mockery and the insults. Finally death by crucifixion. Ropes, nails, and some rough-hewn timber. It was wrong—it was all wrong. Don’t misunderstand me, I believe in capital punishment, but not like this. It should’ve been Barabbas hanging up there dying a criminal’s death. Barabbas deserves to die; there is innocent blood on his hands. All the teacher did was stir up a few religious leaders. Why that’s worthy of the death sentence, I don’t know. Bruised pride.

There was some sort of conversation between Him and the other two being hung with Him. One is cursing at the Teacher. And yet His response is so quiet, like a whisper… to the other.

There were times we actually worried about Him and what he said; the way he said it. But He never stopped. It was always harsh words for the teachers of religious law and gentleness and kindness for the marginalized, the outcast. Those big gentle hands always caressing and blessing the least, the last, the lost… and me… something about His hands.

The image of His fingers twitching; His hands nailed to the wood, I’ll never forget! Compare that to the dinner on our last night together… it keeps running through my mind. His hands were so steady, holding the bread, talking of His body being broken. Then when he held that cup of wine, talking about His blood being poured out… and yet his hands… so calm, the cup never spilled a drop.

I know I rambling, but my mind is so full of all that has happened in the last few days here in Jerusalem.

Yesterday was numb; so quiet. We’re all thinking about questions that had no answers. “Now what?” “Where do we go from here?” “Who will lead us in the next season?” Final score: John the baptizer is dead: beheaded. Jesus is dead: entombed. And Barabbas is free: scheming again against Roman rule. Does any of this make any sense? Our feelings are all over the map: mourning, anger, loss, regret, abandonment, revenge, denial, and with all that emotion, it’s so still—so quiet. Not just Sabbath quiet either. More like the calm before the storm. Yeah, that’s it, the calm before the storm.

They had a bunch of soldiers watching over the stone entrance. I wish I could’ve been there! This morning it happened... early. The sun rose into the sky just like yesterday; but there was something else in the air; the beginning of the storm. I can almost hear the panic. I can just see the scurrying around like ants on a mound.

There’ll be demotions and promotions today. Soldiers are all gone back to the barracks. The stone is rolled away. The body is gone. And the linens are folded neatly. That’s the funny part! That is sooooo just like Him! HA! He did it on purpose. Like an inside joke, just for us. We’re the only ones that would really get it. In fact, that’s what sealed the deal for me. He’s always the orderly one, always cleaning up. We always teased Him: “cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Then His witty comebacks, always something about idle hands and the Devil’s workshop. Everything’s always gotta be nice-n-tidy with the Teacher. His hands were always busy. The folded shroud was just for us. That’s when I knew it; it was from that moment I was sure. He did exactly what He said He would.

Oh, I haven’t seen him yet but I know I will… it’s still early.

He is risen – Has is risen INDEED!

The angel told the women not to be afraid. He said that Jesus had just risen from the dead like He said he would. He told them to check out the grave, then go tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. They did what he said.

On the way, they ran into Jesus! They started worshipping Him. That was the right thing to do. He told them to follow through on what the angel had instructed them to do.

After the guards had come to, they ran to the leaders and told them everything that happened. They paid the guards to tell Pilate that disciples had stolen Jesus' body.

There was only one thing they couldn't stop… Jesus was alive!

They beat him, whipped him, nailed him to a cross, killed him, buried him, sat guards on his grave, but he came back!

Jesus IS alive!

They made sure the body was there, made sure the huge stone was covering the grave, and put a seal on it.

Then they left the grave guarded, so no one could mess with it.

Jesus was taken to the High Priest, Caiaphas (kye-uh-fuss… where do they come up with these names?) The teachers of the law and elders were all there. Peter followed the crowd and hid among the guards to find out what would happen.

The leader started asking Jesus a bunch of questions, but Jesus wouldn't answer them. Finally Caiaphas asked Jesus, under oath, if He was the Christ: the Messiah / Son of God. Jesus said that he was, and that one day they would see Him sitting at the right hand of God. With that, Caiaphas said that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy (sort of like taking the Lord's name in vain) and asked the others what they thought. They agreed and said that Jesus should be put to death.

They started spitting on him, hitting him with their fists, slapping him, and making fun of him. The day they died, and went before God for judgment, I can just see Jesus sitting there saying, "I told you so!"

Peter was sitting in the courtyard listening. Three times people recognized him and said that Peter was with Jesus. The third time he did this, he swore up a storm that he had never even met Jesus! Just then a rooster crowed announcing that it was Friday morning. He had denied Christ three times, just as Jesus said he would.

The temple leaders took Jesus to the Roman overseer / governor, Pilate, to have Jesus killed. They didn't have the authority to do it. At the same time, Judas realized he had messed up. He tried to give the money back, and the leaders wouldn't take it. Judas threw the money into the Temple and ran off and committed suicide.

The leaders used the money to buy a burial place for foreigners. That fulfilled a prophecy in Jeremiah.

When Jesus was in front of Pilate, they asked if He was King of the Jews. Jesus said He was. The leaders brought testimony against Jesus, and Jesus wouldn't defend Himself. Pilate had no choice but to go through with their plan to kill Jesus. He didn't want to. Even Pilot's wife went to him and said she’d had a dream that Jesus was innocent, and have nothing to do with it.

Pilate decides to throw a hail-mary pass… It was the High Holy Day, and the Jews have a mercy custom. The governor could release one prisoner back to the Jews.

I’m sure he thinking about the events of the recent past, as early as this week Jesus came into town being treated like a king, clearly the crowds loved him. Jesus had been performing miracles all week. Surely if he offered to let Jesus go the crowds would be happy. He made his odds a little better by offering them only two choices. Jesus or Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer and was hated. When Pilate asked which of the two should be released, the crowd yelled, "Barabbas!" Pilate asked what crime had Jesus done—what should be done to Him? The crowd yelled that Jesus should be crucified. Something sinister is going on! The religious leaders convinced the crowd that Barabbas should be released and Jesus should be killed. Pilate was shocked, and literally washed his hands. He said he didn't want Jesus' blood on his hands. The crowd yelled, "Let His blood be on us and on our children." So Pilate had Jesus beaten with whips, and turned him over to be killed.

The governor's soldiers took Jesus away. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, made a crown out of thorns and put it on his head. They spit on him, made fun of the "king of the Jews." Then they led him off to be crucified.

Crucified… If the government puts someone to death today, they use electrocution or lethal injection. Even in the last 100 years they used firing squad or hanging; in Jesus' day, they practiced crucifixion. They used two pieces of lumber shaped like a T or an X. They would tie a prisoner to it. It was so high the prisoner's feet couldn't touch the ground. The person would hang by their arms until their lungs collapsed or they died because they had no food or water. Either way it was torturous. It could take days for someone to die. But because their holy day was coming they had to speed up Jesus' death. They hammered nails through his hands and feet to hold Jesus to the cross.

Since Jesus was beaten so bad, He was not strong enough to carry the cross (as was custom) to the place they crucified Him, Golgotha. So the soldiers forced a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. The soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. They gambled for his clothes. Pilot ordered a sign to be put on the cross above Jesus' head. It said "This is Jesus, King of the Jews." The leaders protested and wanted to add to it "this man claims to be" but Pilate wouldn't let them. Crowds of people came by and yelled insults at Jesus. There were two robbers that were being crucified beside Jesus. One yelled insults at him. The other asked Jesus for forgiveness.

Then the miracles started to happen.

The Jewish Temple had a special sanctuary called the Holy of Holies. Normal people weren't allowed in, not even t look, only specific leaders. That part of the Temple was separated by a heavy curtain.

From noon until 3 in the afternoon, it was dark!  It should have been daylight, but God was sending a sign. At a little after 3, Jesus died. Immediately, there was an earthquake. Rocks split, the curtain in the Temple tore from top to bottom. Tombs opened up and many people were raised from the dead. (Probably not like Michael Jackson’s thriller video.) When the soldiers saw all of this, they were scared. They now knew that Jesus was the King.

A man named Joseph had a grave that he had just had made in the side of a mountain. It was solid rock. Joseph was a follower of Jesus. He asked Pilate if he could have Jesus' body, to bury Him. Pilate agreed. He took Jesus' body, wrapped it in clean cloth, and put it in the grave. Then he rolled a huge rock in front of it. What Joseph didn't realize was that he wasn't giving Jesus the tomb, he was only letting him borrow it!

While Jesus was eating with his 12 disciples, He told them that one of them would betray Him. He even knew it was Judas. Why did He let Judas hang around? (One of them would have to fulfill scripture.) So He let Judas do what had to be done. This meal was called the "Last Supper." It is where we get the celebration called "communion."

Jesus told us to eat the bread, and remember his broken body. He told us to drink the wine, and remember his blood that he shed for our sins. After they ate, they sang a hymn together. Then they went to an olive grove and processing mill in the hills just outside of Jerusalem called Mount of Olives… sometimes I wonder how they came up with that clever name?! :)

Jesus was talking to His disciples and told them that they would all disown Him. Peter, one of the disciples, who was just a little hot headed, emphatically told Jesus that even if he had to die, he would never deny Jesus. Jesus told him that before the sun came up the next morning, Peter would deny Him 3 times! Peter disagreed, and all of the disciples agreed with Peter, they would NEVER deny Jesus.

    into the night... and early morning

Jesus and the disciples left the Mount of Olives and went to a nearby garden called Gethsemane. He told the disciples to sit tight while He went to pray. He told the 3 disciples He took 3 with Him to watch out, He went a little further away from them and prayed.

When He returned to the disciples, they were asleep! He woke them up, told them to pray to resist temptation. He did this 3 times, and every time the disciples fell asleep! The last time He told them that His time was about up, and His betrayer was coming.

While He was speaking, Judas came up the hill. Judas wasn't alone. With Judas was a large crowd of people armed with swords and clubs, sent by temple elders. Judas had given them a signal; the one he kissed was to be arrested. Judas said hello to Jesus and kissed Him. Jesus knew what was going on and told Judas to do what he had come for.

The men grabbed Jesus, arrested Him, and began to take Him away. Peter gets an adrenaline rush! He pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of one of the soldiers—Jesus touched the soldier’s ear and heals him on-the-spot! He heals one of the guys arresting him!

Even more surprising, they arrested Jesus anyway. Jesus told them it was dumb to hire a betrayer, and sneak up in the night, because He was in the temple every day. They could have grabbed Him for free any day of the week. Apparently jealousy also makes you stupid!

They took Jesus into town, and all of the disciples and followers deserted him and ran away. Hours before they said they would follow him, even if it meant death!

I’m not sure exactly what Jesus did on Wednesday.


He either went back to the Temple and talked to people in Jerusalem, or went to talk to people in the countryside. One thing I’m sure of is He was probably teaching and touching people and spending time in prayer.

Another thing I am sure of is something was going on behind His back.

Just a few days ago His disciples were walking with him into Jerusalem. They were with Him in the Temple. They were hearing His teaching and watching Him heal people.

But one of them, Judas Iscariot, was deciding to make a little cash.

He heard Jesus say that He was about to die. Judas wanted to secure His future, with money. He should have been thinking about securing His future with God!

Judas went to the temple priests and asked how much they were willing to pay if he handed over Jesus. They gave him 30 silver coins.

From that point on, one of Jesus' own disciples started scheming for a way to turn Jesus in.

He started doing what He did best, teaching and preaching. But the religious leaders (chief priests) wanted to trick Him. They wanted to get Him to say something that would be evidence in court to kill Him. If they couldn’t do that, maybe they could at least stop the crowds from following Him. The problem was, they couldn't trick Jesus! He knew the scriptures too well. Whenever they would ask Him a question, He knew an answer, backed up by the prophets and the psalms; they couldn't argue with those.

Then He would tell stories that would prove that even "tax collectors and prostitutes" would have a better chance of getting into heaven than the culturally religious.

You see, the priests had a thing for titles. They wore fancy clothes and demanded respect from the temple worshipers. Jesus said that people who put themselves on a pedestal would get knocked off, and that people that acted humble would be lifted up. Jesus said we are to be servants to those that need us.

The more Jesus taught, the angrier the priests became. When they couldn't trick him, they sent others to try and trick him. They couldn't do it, either, and everyone was amazed at how smart Jesus was. The Pharisees knew they were stuck, so they quit asking Him questions. They went over to Caiaphas’ house (the head Priest at the time) and started discussing how they could (and eventually would) entrap and kill Jesus.

That night Jesus went back to Bethany and stayed at Simon's house. A woman brought over a bottle of very expensive perfume, opened it, and poured it on Jesus' head. The disciples were totally confused. They said, "That was dumb! She could have sold that perfume and given the money to the poor." They knew Jesus' feelings for the poor and outcast. But Jesus surprised them by saying that she had done the right thing, she was getting him ready to be buried.

Jesus was going to spend the next few days in church, (the Temple).

At some point in the morning Jesus went back into town from Bethany, and he's hungry. As He is headed for the Temple, He sees a fig tree and walks over to it to get a little fruit snack. We don't eat many figs these days, unless they are in a Fig Newton, or we’re headed to Palm Springs and stop by Hadley’s for a date shake. (what, never had one? you’re missing out – boy are those good!)

Anyway, when He gets to the tree, He sees that it doesn't have any fruit on it, nothing but leaves. Now, everybody knows fig leaves are for wearing not cooking... so Jesus just told that tree that it would never have fruit again, and it withered up and died! (Mark 11:21)

The disciples were amazed by this one; they had seen Him bring dead people to life, but never kill anything. When they asked him how He did it, He tells them that it was by faith. He said that if we believed, and asked for something in prayer, that we would receive it. If we told a “mountain to jump in the sea,” it would jump in the sea! (Mark 11:23)

So Jesus goes to the Temple. Remember there’s all these people selling stuff for sacrifices for the Passover celebration about to take place? (read yesterday’s blog) There are also people exchanging the local money for the foreign money; and they’re all making a huge profit in the church. Jesus sees this and gets totally torque’d (really mad). He said that they were turning His house of prayer into a den of robbers. (Mark 11:17) He starts flipping over tables and kicking all these people out of there! This made the traders mad. Not only them, but also the chief priests at the Temple, too. They were no-doubt making a commission from the people selling stuff. 

Jesus stays in the Temple, and makes the teachers even madder. Jesus starts healing people. People that were blind, He made them see. People that were cripple, He made them walk. This made the leaders look bad, because they’re not doing that kind of stuff. Then some kids started running (in the church... and you KNOW stuffy religious people hate that) and they're shouting (ditto, on the stuffy people) “Hosanna 'Praise God' to the Son of David!” Then the leaders go to Jesus and ask, “Are you listening to this?” (Matthew 21:16) Something tells me they were hoping he would say, Come-on kids; I'm just Jesus, let's all settle down and stop running in church!” …But he didn't! He threw a scripture at them. (He did that all the time.) He said, "I guess you’ve never read, (quoting Psalm 8:2) “You taught children and infants to give You praise?” He had 'em stumped… again!

He was tired, so he headed back to Bethany to spend the night.

Passover was an important holiday (Holy Day)to Jews in Jesus' time.

Jews from all over the world would go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple. They would travel so far that it wouldn't be practical to bring the sacrifices with them, so they would buy them at the Temple.

Jesus was going to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, also. But He knew that the people there would try to kill Him. He had been out in the country preaching, teaching, casting out demons, healing people, and doing all kinds of miracles. He was so popular, that the people had decided He was surely the new King of Israel.

He sent his disciples to borrow a donkey, so that He could ride into Jerusalem instead of walk. He wasn't being lazy, He was fulfilling prophecy. (Check out Zechariah 9:9.)

Anyway, the disciples borrowed the donkey and put their coats on his back as a saddle for Jesus. He hopped on, and into Jerusalem they went.

A large crowd was on the road to Jerusalem, they didn't think that a donkey being ridden by the King should have to walk on the ground. So they started putting their coats on the road so the donkey wouldn't get His feet dusty! That's how much they loved and adored Jesus on that Sunday. And when they didn't have enough coats to lay on the ground they started cutting the leaves from palm trees and lying them on the road. That's where we get the name "Palm Sunday."

If Jerusalem had been in here in Santa Clarita (we have a lot of Pine trees) it would probably be called "Pine Sunday!"

While all of this was going on, the crowd was yelling stuff like, "Hosanna to the son of David!" They were giving Him the royal treatment. Yelling praises, trying to shake His hand, trying to get His attention. He was getting more attention than Michael Phelps got last year after winning all of those gold medals.

All of the visitors that were in town for the holiday started asking who this guy was. I guess that everyone who had heard or had seen what Jesus had done were proud to tell the visitors about Jesus.

I'm sure they talked about people getting healed of blindness, how He turned a few fish-sticks and rolls into enough food to feed 5000 men and their families, or how He made dead people come back to life! This was going to be their new king, the Savior! I have a feeling the disciples were proud to be with Jesus on that day?!

Well, I'm sure more happened after He arrived and settled in wherever He was staying, but that's all we know for this last Sunday before Passover.

I would imagine Jesus probably prayed a few hours, and went to sleep.

He was starting the hardest week of his life, and he knew it.